Splitting for the Price of Eggs

2025

Oil on canvas

91.44 × 121.92 cm (36 × 48 inches)

en ‘Splitting for the Price of Eggs” is the start of a new series I am working on, interrogating glorified symbols that are never functional. The central figure is inspired by Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s bronze sculpture “Victory” from 1903. I became obsessed with this gilded bronze object after seeing it in person in the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The victory figure is a traditional symbol of American divine right, and by turning it upside down and melting it into egg yolk, I expose it as just a piece of iconography, a fantastical idea, without any illusion of real, naturalistic humanity that would be used for nationalistic propaganda. The use of eggs was inspired by memes after the 2024 elections in the US that were centered on making fun at self-centered right-wing voters for voting based on perceived economic convenience, via “the price of eggs.” I finished the painting in February of 2025, during a time when egg prices hit a record high due to bird flu outbreak. The image depicts a seamless transition of optimism crumbling, as basic essentials become coveted luxuries. While taking inspiration from the terrifying real-life authoritarianism taking over the world, there is still a challenge to use a visual metaphor that is both searing and alluring. Just as individuals become seduced by extremist ideology, there must be a mirage that can visually titillate. Alluring aesthetics is one of the few ways in which critical voices can never be silenced. Gold turning into fire and egg yolk is always beautiful.